Olivia Wilde to direct Penelope Cruz in The Invite

Olivia Wilde to direct Cruz

Photo: © AVALON

Olivia Wilde is set to direct a new comedy movie called 'The Invite'.

The 41-year-old star - who made her directorial debut with the teen comedy film 'Booksmart' back in 2019 - is set to helm the upcoming date-night comedy movie, which is inspired by the Spanish film 'Sentimental'.

Olivia will also star in the movie alongside the likes of Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, and Edward Norton, Variety reports.

The film's official synopsis explains that 'The Invite' is about "a couple [who] invites the neighbours over, igniting an evening full of unexpected twists and turns, revealing deeply repressed emotions and unexplored sexuality".

Olivia's most-recent directing credit is 'Don't Worry Darling', the 2022 thriller film that starred the likes of Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll and Chris Pine.

The actress-turned-director is also set to helm 'Naughty', an upcoming Christmas comedy movie, as well as 'Avengelyne', a film adaptation of the comic book character.

Olivia previously admitted to feeling liberated as a director.

The Hollywood star recalled feeling a "thrill of independence" while directing her first film.

She told The Talk: "For me, directing has been liberating in a way that is very profound because as an actor, you are very dependent. You're dependent on people choosing you and people projecting a certain kind of definition onto you of a character of what you are. I think it's quite an enormous responsibility to hold all of those projections.

"With being director, there's a sense of agency. I think the first time that I called action on my own set of my first film, I felt a thrill of independence for the first time.

"My value on a set was entirely based on my ideas and if I had an instinct to change a scene, I could do that. I think spending 20 years as an actress allowed me to really understand the value of having that type of independence."

Olivia actually learned a lot about directing through her experiences as an actress.

The film star explained: "I never went to film school, so the films I acted in were my proxy film school; some of them were pure cautionary tales that taught me what never to do, and some of them taught me some really valuable lessons of what I should strive for.

"I think one of the great things about the film industry is that it's one that allows for evolution, for switching roles … It’s unusual to work within a field that allows you to be an actor, a director, a writer, a producer. It's quite a luxury to be able to tell stories in so many different ways within one kind of profession.

"If you are interested enough, you can try your hand at all these different crafts."